Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Bought by Davis Capital Management

Davis Capital Management grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 29.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,521 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 581 shares during the quarter. Davis Capital Management’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $330,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Burkett Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Bare Financial Services Inc acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, RIA Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on MRK shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Societe Generale lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $104.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Monday, March 11th. Argus raised Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, TheStreet lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “b+” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Monday, March 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $133.00.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $127.99 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $324.17 billion, a PE ratio of 142.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.39. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $99.14 and a 12 month high of $133.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $128.68 and a 200-day simple moving average of $123.02.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $2.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $15.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.21 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 14.05% and a net margin of 3.76%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.40 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 8th. Investors of record on Monday, June 17th will be given a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 17th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.41%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is 342.22%.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

Merck & Co, Inc operates as a healthcare company worldwide. It operates through two segments, Pharmaceutical and Animal Health. The Pharmaceutical segment offers human health pharmaceutical products in the areas of oncology, hospital acute care, immunology, neuroscience, virology, cardiovascular, and diabetes under the Keytruda, Bridion, Adempas, Lagevrio, Belsomra, Simponi, and Januvia brands, as well as vaccine products consisting of preventive pediatric, adolescent, and adult vaccines under the Gardasil/Gardasil 9, ProQuad, M-M-R II, Varivax, RotaTeq, Live Oral, Vaxneuvance, Pneumovax 23, and Vaqta names.